You may remember that I stubbed my toe back in August, and the nail was looking as though it might turn black. Well, it did. And it still is. Here, just in time to put you off your Sunday lunch, is a photo of how it looks now. I think I can feel a new nail growing underneath it, but I really never expected it to be taking so long. Anyone have any experience of this? When should I be expecting to have a normal toe nail again?

17 Responses to 'Toe update'

it takes a while. i have 2 black toenails from when i started running again 6 months ago. i had this before, and if i remember correctly, the toenail may actually fall off before a new one grows back. good times!

If you have the nail removed at the base, it takes about 6 months for a new one to grow completely. That would also get rid of the black color, as that is just old dried blood (yuk). If the nail is dead, it shouldn’t really hurt much.

Oh God. The insanity. You did give a warning before presenting the picture. But I still had to see it, as I have experienced many a black toenail due to ill fitting running shoes, apparently.

I did lose the big toenail once in my 20s and it. Completely. Freaked. Me. Out.

But it did come back good as new and you’d never know it today.

As everyone else mentioned it takes a long, long time. At least a year I think. And the new nail will grow in under that nail and eventually the nail on top will sort of pry away revealing the new nail underneath.

I usually clipped that upper nail each time I saw it pulling away because I wanted the black, blood dried part to go away.

Morton’s toe occurs in 1 out of 10 births. It shows higher intelligence. I should know, as I have it also. The Wisegeek’s info is not true for everyone. I am 61 years old and have never had a problem with my toes or feet. They are as lovely as ever.

I´ve had a couple of these from football. Takes 5 or 6 months, but it´s a fascinating process, and one magical day you will be able to gently pull off the old dead black nail and see the beautiful new one that has grown quietly beneath all those months. Ain’t life a beautiful thing?

Yeah, I’m glad I found you guys (albeit 4 years too late). Not only was I freaking out because my black toe wasn’t going away after 4 months, but checking other sites began to make me think I’d better see a doctor or I’d end up with bone diseases and possible amputation. Stupid internet. Then I found this and felt astoundingly more relieved – until I read the bit about Morton’s toe. Guess I’m a member of that 10% of the population – except that I’m neither rich nor impressively intelligent (I clumsily ended up with a black toe, after all). Cheers